SBC does it again! No outgoing mail via my
own domain??
And a "Fix" I hope!

Jan. 11, 2005 Suddenly
without warning, late in the day after sending mail out of my mail
program in the morning, my outgoing stopped being able to go... I called
my domain isp and they said "oh yes, SBC, Cox and others are doing this
now, it's becoming quite popular. They are blocking your port 25 from
OUT GOING mail via 3rd party isp domains with their own filter!" I
said WHAT?? After years with SBC DSL they, without notice directly to me
personally, shut off my ability to send outgoing mail via my own domain
isp??? This has got to be illegal!! (and I think it is or they
would not have an OPT Out form!) And it is under Abuse.... huh?

I set about finding the reason and the fix (pending,
if they act on my Opt Out e mail I sent via the SBC website!!).
You go here:

THINK ABOUT IT - SBC
suddenly wants to block spam and abuse... on MY outgoing mail??? That
means they are calling all their own customers spammers!! I had to FIND
and fill out the request on the SBC web site to Opt out of the
port block! I can only hope it works! For now I can get mail (so spam
can come in!?) but I can't reply unless I copy the address and body and
go on line to my ISP server web mail and send it! Sounds to me like they
are trying to FORCE their customers to use the SBC Yahoo servers for e
mail (and guess what, those boxes have limits too!) I will NOT let SBC
and/or Yahoo into my personal mail! (I never did upgrade to the yahoo
part!!) I do not trust SBC, but am held hostage by the need for
DSL service to conduct my on line business product support - which I
have no intention of running through a company who is SO UN-user
friendly and still outsourcing support, etc.!!

Jan. 12, 2005 I heard nothing so I
called SBC DSL tech support and of course got a man in a foreign
country. I would not do more than give him my DSL phone number and then
I demanded to talk to someone in the USA.... he tried to talk to me, but
I got really FIRM and angry and kept demanding to talk to someone here.
He said "we don't usually do this, but I will transfer you to "level 2".
Uh huh... right... well folks as I have experienced before, "level 2" IS
IN THE USA!! I then talked to someone that could understand me, and HE
COULD turn my Port 25 back on! I just had to get him to do that, and
then turn my modem off and on again, and then my mail could go out.

I did treat the fellow with consideration, telling
him I was very angry with SBC, not with him - So he knew my anger
was directed at the company. When I spoke I was careful to say SBC, not
"you". Then when he fixed both our accounts so we could again SEND
mail via our domains, I thanked him in a genuine tone and said I was
happy now (after I asked if this fix would STICK! :) He said it
would. I am glad that I called because if I was not a "squeaky
wheel" I would not get the problem fixed!

I do think it is outrageous that SBC would try and
force people to use only their own servers for e mail!! It
makes NO SENSE that they would do this for outgoing mail, either! I am
much more secure and able to function with many e mail boxes via my
trusted domain host! *sigh*

-----------------------

Well it's been a while now, and as long as my DSL
stays up, I don't "make waves"....like why it is SLOWER by far since the
phone company has expanded so much and gone back to the days of A
MONOPOLY .... sheesh! I just watch TV commercials for how SBC has joined
AT&T! Well who the heck do you think they all are??? Just all the Bells
getting back the way they were! Do they really think we don't see
this???

------------------------------

Big brother SBC
(AT&T out here in California) is really tightening the screws!! Here is
the reply I got when I suggested the fix I was able to do (being I got
SBC DSL before the Yahoo merger and NEVER installed the Yahoo
software!!!! - (to say nothing of the fact the PHONE COMPANY MONOPOLY IS
BACK WITH SBC BEING MERGED WITH AT&T AGAIN!!!!!

It's been another while now but I still sit in my
little corner of the world and I don't make waves... my service is
pretty good and steady...and I still NEVER "upgraded" to SBC Yahoo...and
when a friend in Los Angeles county got new SBC DSL he ran into the same
problem with e mail, so I suggested my fix... to which my husband said:

----------------

I've already done that. Basically they are set up somewhat like
AOL.

You are logging on to the net via a Yahoo proxy server. The
software on that server will not allow you to connect to another email
server for receiving and especially sending your emails. You can only
send via SBC's smtp server so then it will only have your SBC Yahoo
email address as the return address. They come right out and admit that
you are on a proxy server and their server software will not allow any
email client software such as Mozilla Thunderbird or Eudora to access
their email servers. You MUST use ONLY Microsoft Outlook as your email
client. The only way my friend can access the email I set up for him on
my domain is by it's webmail.

He can setup Outlook to access his Yahoo email persona and he can
send email via Outlook through any Yahoo email persona. But he can't
have that same functionality with any other email server. That is
because when he is logged on he is going through a Yahoo proxy server
and so anything on Yahoo's own intranet is accessible, while anything
outside that intranet may not be.

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He said his friend is so angry at this, he will drop DSL after the
obligatory year contract! I don't blame him!! Guess I am lucky to have
SBC DSL before the New McCarthy era!?

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THE MAIN FIX IS TO CALL UPON GETTING A NEW ACCOUNT AND TELL THEM
TO UNBLOCK THE PORT THAT PREVENTS YOU FROM USING OTHER E MAIL
SERVERS. INSIST, AND THEY HAVE TO, PERIOD.